NATO summit: USA demands drastic military spending from Europe!

NATO summit: USA demands drastic military spending from Europe!

On April 2, 2025, the foreign ministers of NATO countries will meet at the defense alliance's headquarters in Brussels. The two-day meeting begins at 12:00 p.m. and focuses on NATO partners' strategic defense spending. Loud oe24.at A massive increase in military spending is on the agenda, especially under pressure from the USA.

Defense Minister Pete Hegseth had already demanded in February that the European allies should be prepared to use five percent of their economic output for defense. This demand corresponds to the growing expectations of the USA, which wants to make its involvement in Europe less risky. The talks include a new defense spending target to be agreed at the upcoming summit in The Hague in June.

Rising defense spending

In 2024, NATO plans to spend about 2.71% of its GDP on defense. This corresponds to a total volume of around 1.5 trillion US dollars. The European allies and Canada are expected to provide a total of 2.02% of their GDP, which means around $507 billion. This spending marks a significant increase of 10.9% compared to last year, while European partners respond with an increase of 17.9% tagesschau.de reported.

What is particularly noteworthy is the fact that NATO countries' defense spending has increased continuously from $943 billion since 2014. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has significantly influenced Europe's perception of threats and served as a catalyst for increased spending.

Targets and national contributions

NATO has had a two percent defense spending target since 2002, which was made binding in 2014. This goal should be achieved by 2024. According to reports, Germany will spend more than 2% (2.12%) of its GDP on defense for the first time in 2024, made possible by adjustments in the calculation. Among the 23 NATO members that want to achieve this goal in 2024, Poland leads the ranking with 4.12%.

In addition, a special fund of 100 billion euros was used almost entirely for the procurement of large equipment. In response to the US demands, some politicians in Germany have expressed different opinions. The Czech government is also open to discussing higher defense spending and proposes a target of 3%.